


Something's Fishy

by intellexual_asexual



Series: Ego Short Stories [13]
Category: CrankGameplays - Fandom
Genre: Gen, Light Angst, also it started out as just a funny and cute fic, but blank is in the fic so wth did you expect kdsjfhkh, but then i just HAD to make it, djhgkshldfkj its not really angst i guess, god i love these interactions kjgsksjdhf, no beta we die like actor mark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-14 13:55:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29047269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/intellexual_asexual/pseuds/intellexual_asexual
Summary: The Gongoozler appears at the Cranks, and some of the egos meet him!
Series: Ego Short Stories [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2106381
Comments: 10
Kudos: 24





	Something's Fishy

**Author's Note:**

> Whaaaaaaasdkjhgkfh I am soft for the Gongoozler now help  
> Oh wait! Before you start reading, there's some things you need to know about my headcanons for the Cranks, because without them the story won't make sense, kind of: Bernice is a succumbus, basically the 'female' version of what I headcanon Bim Trimmer to be. The Gongoozler is a siren/naiad of sorts.  
> Ok, now you can continue sdkfjhkfhs

Bernice was not expecting to find _that_ in the Cranks’ pool.

There she was, sitting by the edge of the pool and sipping Mrs. Thomson’s lemonade, when she felt something touch her toes. She felt something _touch her toes._

Bernice immediately jumped back and out of the pool, giving a small scream. She almost dropped her glass of lemonade, but managed to keep a hold of it as she peered back into the pool. She didn’t see anything, but it’s not like she would be able to, anyway. Why did the pool go so deep that you couldn’t see the bottom?

Bernice jumped back again as she suddenly saw something poke it’s head out. It was… a fish? No, there’s no way that could be a fish. It looked too… humanoid.

The thing gave her a yellow, toothy grin before ducking back down. It had a long seafoam-green fish tail, which Bernice found out from it lifting it’s tail up and out of the water to splash her.

She dropped her glass then, but luckily not into the pool. Bernice spit out the pool water that had gotten into her mouth, and the thing looked at her curiously. Bernice looked back at the thing and properly studied it, her face mirroring that of the thing.

This mermaid/fish creature had fins protruding from it’s face where it’s ears should have been, and they were the same color as the thing’s tail. The thing had webbed hands, and they resembled that of human ones save for the green claws. It’s yellowish eyes had slit pupils, and they were narrowed as the thing tried to figure Bernice out.

Bernice recognized something in the creature’s brown hair, and perhaps it’s whole face in general. 

...Oh wait. That would make sense.

Bernice mentally facepalmed when she realized that this was a new ego. Of course, some random sea monster wouldn’t appear at the Cranks’ unless it was made by Ethan Nestor.

Bernice decided to see if Nestor scripted them to speak English. “Uh, hi! I’m Bernice! Do you, um… have a name?”

They cocked they head even further, and Bernice thought they would break their neck. The sea creature seemed to understand her though, as they tried answering with a loud shriek. Bernice covered her ears and cringed, and the noise immediately stopped. The creature looked at her sadly, their face fins drooping.

Bernice frowned too and said, “That’s OK, we’ll figure it out eventually. Uh, under normal circumstances I would invite you inside, but, um...”

She gestured to the creature’s tail, which was poking out of the water again, and they gave a silent giggle.

The creature suddenly dove back into the water, most likely scared, as Mad Mike materialized next to Bernice. Mike furrowed his eyebrows and said, “Aw, what, I don’t get to meet the new guy?! What’s so special about you, Bernice?”

Bernice rolled her eyes. “New _person_ , Mike, we talked about that. And maybe you would’ve gotten to meet them if you didn’t just suddenly appear.”

Mike frowned and crossed his arms. He continued to pout as he said, “Well it’s not my fault that the fans gave me teleportation powers today. It’s convenient and I wanted to try them out.”

Bernice ignored him and turned back to the pool. She couldn’t see the creature anymore, since it had retreated to the bottom of the deep end. Maybe if Mike left they would come back! But…

She had an idea. “Hey, Mike, if you’re going to teleport back inside, can you grab Blank’s whiteboard?”

Mike stopped pouting and raised an eyebrow. “What do you need that for?”

“Just grab it, please!”

“OK, OK, jeez,” was what Mike said as he teleported away. 

It was a minute later when he came back, and the object in his hands wasn’t a regular whiteboard. It was a small one, and it was colored completely in pink and blue swirls. It was also slightly transparent, but the accompanying Expo marker was as solid as could be.

Mike handed it quickly to Bernice. “I think Blank was using it so I just made a replica.”

Bernice grinned. “That was probably a better idea anyway, thanks Mike.”

As she turned back to the pool, she didn’t see Mike smile at being told he had a good idea for once. He poofed away and almost immediately, the creature came back up.

They peeked above the surface of the water, their eyes the only thing to emerge. Bernice lightly laughed and said, “It’s OK, he’s gone now. Here!”

She put the ‘white’board and marker at the edge of the pool and the creature swam over to it cautiously, with only their eyes still out of the water. They hopped up and propped an elbow on the poolside, looking at the ‘white’board. They looked up at Bernice and made a small squeaking sound, almost as if they were asking for permission to use it.

“Yeah, go ahead!” Bernice said encouragingly. 

The creature grabbed the Expo marker and almost dropped it into the pool. They managed to grip it tightly in their—paws? hands?—at an awkward angle and start writing.

It took a bit, since it clearly looked like they hadn’t written anything _ever_ , but eventually Bernice could see what they had put on the ‘white’board. It was one word, written large and haphazardly: “gONgOOZLer.”

Bernice looked up at the creature and saw that they wore another toothy grin. She asked them, “Is that your name?”

They nodded and chirped, then wiped the ‘white’board clean. The ‘Gongoozler,’ huh? Bernice wondered if the name Nestor chose had any significance, but she would research that later. She watched patiently as the Gongoozler wrote out another word.

The word was “HuNgy.”

Bernice’s eyes widened. She hadn’t thought about that. What do half-fish people eat, anyway?

She told them, “Uh, OK, hold on!” as they squeaked again and Bernice ran back inside. She ran into the kitchen and started frantically looking through the cabinets. They had to have some fish pellets in here or something (there was one time when the fans decided that giving the Cranks’ a pet goldfish was a good idea. It wasn’t, obviously, and it was clear that it wasn’t after only two days)!

Bernice didn’t find anything, and she quickly stopped and started thinking. She didn’t come to any conclusions, though, as Mike reappeared beside her. She sighed. She would have settled for literally anyone else right now.

“Mike, where is everyone else? Can’t you go talk to them, I’m _kind of_ in the middle of something here.”

Mike grinned and replied, “No-can-do! Everyone else faded earlier today, and Blank never wants to be bothered.”

God damnit. Bernice liked Mrs. Thomson. The others, not so much. But hey, anyone is better than a hyperactive psychopath and a mopey emo teenager.

She groaned in frustration and asked him, “Well, you can help me then, I’m looking for those fish pellets from like a year ago.”

Mike’s shit-eating grin only grew bigger. “You won’t find them. I ate them after Goldie died.”

…

Bernice was not surprised in the slightest. She stopped looking under the kitchen sink for a second to glare up at Mike. “Seriously?! God, whatever, just… Ugh!!”

Mike tilted his head and asked, “Were they for our new fish friend? I don’t think they would’ve liked them anyway, they tasted stale.”

Bernice took her hands off of her face and glared at Mike again before getting up. The Gongoozler was just going to have to eat some human leftovers.

Bernice realized that she should have just asked what the Gongoozler wanted as she pulled out a tub of cooked sausage. Hopefully the anatomy of a mermaid fish creature wasn’t that far off from a human. Wait. If it wasn’t, then…

Oh God, was there going to be _fish shit_ in the Cranks’ pool?!

Bernice tried to push that thought aside as she walked back to the pool, Mike following behind her. His face was still split with that smile, and it was starting to creep her out. She carefully approached the pool, where the Gongoozler was peeking from. They ducked down, their eyes wide, when they spotted Mike. Bernice looked back and saw his smile falter.

She turned back to the pool and spoke softly, “Hey, it’s OK. Mike’s not going to hurt you, I promise.”

She may or may not have incorporated her powers into her speech.

It worked, though, as the Gongoozler breached the surface again and slowly swam back to the edge of the pool. She smiled as she placed the sausage tub gently by the edge, making sure it wasn’t too close that the creature didn’t knock it over.

But it didn’t matter anyway, because after a few seconds of sniffing and looking over the sausage, the Gongoozler snatched the entire tub and ducked back under the water. They came back up a minute later, all of the sausages gone. The creature gave Bernice and Mike another grin, and Bernice could see bits of sausage stuck in their teeth.

They placed the tub beside the ‘white’board and wrote another word. “THANk.”

Bernice giggled and said, “No problem. Now, do you like it in here? If you don’t, we can always see if Marvin, our magician friend, can make you a special area in the house or something.”

Now that Bernice thought about it, she really needed to check if there was a new room in the house. Every time a new ego appears, they get a bedroom and some special area for recreation. The only person who didn’t get one of the rec. rooms was Mrs. Thomson, but then again, the kitchen was entirely remodeled after her appearance.

Mike apparently knew what Bernice was thinking (and he probably did: the fans like to headcanon him with mind reading abilities sometimes) and said, “I’ll go check if there’s one already in there!!”

He poofed away and Bernice attempted to make small ‘talk’ with the Gongoozler. She found out that they did use they/them pronouns and liked cheese by the time Mike poofed back. The Gongoozler was still a little spooked by the sudden appearance, but they didn’t go back under this time.

Mike had a look of pleasant surprise on his face as he quickly grabbed Bernice’s arm and gave the Gongoozler a mock salute. They tilted their head, confused as Mike went away with Bernice as fast as he had shown up there.

Bernice shook her head, dazed from the teleportation, then she gasped as she took in the _absolutely enormous_ room in front of her.

The area seemed to be an indoor forest of sorts, complete with a sunroof that was currently open. The (fake, Bernice hoped) scenery and greenery was beautiful, a mix of green and blue and purple. The room gave off a sort of homey but exciting vibe, and Bernice was sure that Father Ethan would have been all over this room if he was here still. In the center of it all was a deep, crystal clear lake, and Bernice could see many different logs and plants in the pond. There was something shiny in there, too, but Bernice couldn’t quite make out what it was.

Bernice turned to Mike, eyebrows raised in shock, as he smiled and said, “I don’t think we have to call Marvin.”

Bernice laughed as Mike grabbed her arm again and teleported back to the poolside. The Gongoozler looked at Bernice with concern, most likely from her queasy expression.

Bernice smiled at them and said, “It’s OK, bub, I’m good. Great news! We found you a new home! Now all we need to do is—”

...Oh yeah. How were they going to move the Gongoozler from one body of water to the other? Wouldn’t they suffocate if they were out of the water for too long?

The Gongoozler was slightly wagging their fishtail, almost like a dog. Bernice couldn’t help but giggle at them as they hopped up and wrote something on the ‘white’board, tail still wagging.

“buCkeT.”

The Gongoozler looked up at Bernice’s confused expression before chirping twice and pointing to a large tub sitting beside the pool chairs. They smiled and wiped away the previous word, writing two more: “I sIT.”

Bernice looked back at the bucket after reading the board. Would they be able to fit in there? It looked a little small for them, even though it was one of the biggest storage containers around the house (and Post and Yahoo _had_ to use that for water guns instead of just using the pool water. Bernice was beginning to believe that her and Mrs. Thomson were the only egos scripted with brain cells).

Mike walked over to the tub and brought it over, dumping out the water that was already in there. “This?”

The Gongoozler squeaked again and started trying to get pool water into it, splashing Mike and Bernice with it and the water from their furiously wagging fish tail.

Mike and Bernice laughed and Bernice said, “OK, OK, we’re going! We’re going! Hold on, bub!”

It didn’t take too long to fill up the tub. It was almost half empty, though, when Bernice and Mike lifted the Gongoozler into it. They were thrashing around in excitement, and they had to refill the tub with more pool water. The Gongoozler sat in the tub, their entire lower half being the only thing getting wet. They hopefully didn’t have to be in the uncomfortable, cramped position for long, since Mike was going to teleport to the room and quickly dump them into their new pond.

But there was a problem. Of _course_ there had to be a problem.

“...Uh, Bernice?” Mike asked the redhead after a few seconds of just standing there. What was he doing, the Gongoozler needed to be in that pond!

“Yes?”

“...I can’t teleport anymore.”

Bernice’s sigh was very loud compared to Mike’s small voice. She couldn’t get angry at him, though, this happened at random. Sometimes the fans were godsends, and sometimes they were the bane of the Cranks’ existences.

She pinched the bridge of her nose in thought. “It’s OK, it’s fine. What are we going to do now, though?”

She removed her hand from her face and looked at the Gongoozler. She said, “I suppose we could just push you over there, bub. Mike, how far away is their room?”

She didn’t get a reply. After a few seconds, she sighed again and looked back at Mike. “Mike.”

“I-It’s, uh...”

“ _Mike._ ”

“It’sontheothersideofthehouse!!”

Bernice facepalmed. She couldn’t get angry at him for that, either. The locations of new rooms in the house wasn’t something within her control. Or _anyone’s_ control, really. All she could do was walk calmly over to one of the pool chairs and kick it over in frustration.

The Gongoozler looked sadly between the two of them. They made a sad-sounding growling noise and their face fins drooped again. They tipped themselves over toward the pool, since the tub was placed at the very edge, and slid back into the chlorine water.

Bernice felt so bad. She knew that the sea creature had been hyped to go to the pond, and now they were stuck in this boring small space.

Bernice was about to say something to the Gongoozler along the lines of “I’m sorry,” but the Gongoozler suddenly chirped in surprise and grabbed the ‘white’board, their eyes wide. They wrote, “FeeL FuNy.”

Bernice was just able to read the ‘white’board before the Gongoozler disappeared.

She started to panic, because it was not normal for a new ego to fade 20 minutes after arriving. She and Mike screamed at the same time, and both of them ran to the pool’s edge. Bernice hung over the edge and shouted the Gongoozler’s name, paddling through the water, and Mike cannonballed in to search the bottom. Mike came back up for air only a minute later, a scared expression on his face as he brought the whiteboard and marker back with him. He placed them on the edge and was about to dive back down when the creature popped back in the pool.

They appeared grinning, their sharp yellow teeth showing, before furrowing their eyebrows at Mike and Bernice. Mike almost collapsed into the pool out of relief, and Bernice actually shrieked before diving into the water to hug the Gongoozler.

The sea creature seemed to have never been hugged, and they felt cold when Bernice pulled them tight to her. They flinched but relaxed a second afterward. Bernice pulled back and swam back over to the pool edge, pulling herself out as she said, “Oh my God, you scared us! That doesn’t usually happen around here, where did you go?”

The Gongoozler grinned again as they helped Mike out of the pool, pushing him over the edge as they grabbed the ‘white’board. They started using the Expo marker before Bernice remembered that it had been dunked into the water and it probably wouldn’t write, but apparently it was waterproof since the creature turned the board around when they had finished writing “pONd.”

Bernice raised her eyebrows and looked at Mike, who looked just as confused and shocked as she was. “What?”

The Gongoozler chirped happily as they wrote, “gO THere.”

They disappeared again, and Mike and Bernice stood up. They suppose they could go check it out: they didn’t think the creature would pull a prank on them or anything.

They ran over to the other side of the house, and Bernice mostly followed Mike since she didn’t know what the door looked like. It turns out it was a really obvious door: it was made of some type of dark colored wood, and engraved on it was a silver painted fish symbol. They opened the door and Bernice was amazed again at how big the room was.

It looked the same as before, but now… the Gongoozler was in the middle of the pond!

Bernice smiled and walked over to the pond’s edge, careful not to step on any (again, hopefully fake) foliage as she kneeled down to meet the Gongoozler’s eyes. They chirped and ducked under the water, splashing Bernice with more water as she laughed. She could still see the Gongoozler through the water, and as they ducked and dived around all of the plants and other objects at the bottom, she was reminded of a small child discovering a playground. 

Bernice let the comparison go as she saw the Gongoozler coming back up. Mike was now crouched beside her, eagerly watching the creature, and as they breached the surface they spewed water directly into Mike’s face. Bernice laughed, and the smile on Mike’s face didn’t disappear as he wiped away the water.

Bernice realized that the Gongoozler was handing her something, and she looked at the object in their—again, what would you _call_ those?—and raised her eyebrows.

She looked back at the pool for a second to confirm her suspicions, and found that she was correct: the shiny object in the pool was gone and now being shoved into her hands. It was a beautiful gold chain necklace, and on the end was a small blue and green marble. Bernice really liked it, but she didn't want to just _take_ it from the Gongoozler.

“Really, bub? For me?”

The Gongoozler squeaked and nodded, taking it from her and looping it around her neck. Suddenly her head felt fuzzy, but the feeling went away as soon as it came. The Gongoozler looked deep in thought for a second before looking at Mike and covering their face fins. Shit, they forgot the ‘white’board!

But Mike got the wordless message to cover his ears, and once he did the Gongoozler let out another screech like earlier.

But this time Bernice could hear him clearly. Their voice was bubbly and it sounded like they were under water, but she was still able to make out what they said to her. “Hi Bernice!! This pond’s really really cool, I really like it! It was better than that other pool, anyway. I figured out that I can, like, teleport between different bodies of water!! It’s super cool, I can travel around everywhere! So, anyway, since that’s over with, what am I doing here? You two have my face and I’m very confused.”

Bernice laughed and explained that he was an ‘ego,’ which didn’t take very long. It seems that the Gongoozler would be one of the smarter egos, taking Yahoo’s spot as the top three least-braindead Cranks.

The Gongoozler nodded their head to acknowledge that they understood, and they said, “OK. Do you think I’ll be able to meet the others sometime?”

Bernice frowned slightly and replied, “When they show up, I guess. They should be back here tomorrow.”

The Gongoozler cocked their head and started to ask, “What? Where are—” but they cut themself off when they heard Mike quietly wince. They guessed that the shrieking had been heard through his ears, finally.

They looked back at Bernice with concern as she smiled and took the necklace off. “I’ll tell you tomorrow. Maybe.”

The fuzzy brained feeling returned and disappeared again as she took it off and tried handing it back to the sea creature. The Gongoozler shook their head, pushing the jewelry back into Bernice’s hand before tapping Mike gently on the knee with the back of one of their claws.

Mike opened his eyes and uncovered his ears, breathing a sigh of relief. He softly said, “Thank God,” as he stood up. He shook the dirt off of himself as he added, “I’ve got to check on my ice cream, I’ll see you guys later! Oh, hey, I think I can teleport again!!”

And Mike disappeared in a puff of pink and blue smoke, leaving the air scented like cotton candy. Bernice just sighed as the Gongoozler made a barking noise that sounded like a laugh. 

~ ꕤꕤꕤꕤꕤ ~

BlankGamePlays didn’t usually wander the halls of the house at night. But after not receiving his daily letter from Mrs. Thomson, he began to grow… worried. 

He didn’t like to leave his room. At all. He was scared every time he ventured to the kitchen for some of Mrs. Thomson’s real food, but he did it anyway for her sake. His Gran really cared for him, and he was grateful.

But tonight he wasn’t going to the kitchen. Well, actually, he _did_ go to the kitchen, but he didn’t find Mrs. Thomson there. So he left.

He had checked almost every other room in the house, including all of the bedrooms, for his Gran. Suspiciously, he didn’t come across any of his other roommates besides Mad Mike and Bernice. He would have figured at least Yahoo would be up and about, but even the android was nowhere to be found. And even though Blank was grateful for the lack of social interaction, he couldn’t help but feel worried for them, too.

He quietly closed the door to Father Ethan’s confession booth with the smallest of sighs, black tears beginning to fall down his cheeks. Where was she? Where was anyone?

Blank was trudging back to his room when he happened upon a new door. He had to double back, almost passing it before realizing he had never seen it. He stared at the dark wood and silver fish for a while, debating whether or not to open it. He made up his mind as he thought about Mrs. Thomson again. His Gran could be in there!

Blank took a deep breath as he nudged the door with his foot.

…

Fuck. Shit. God damnit. It was a _pull_ door.

Blank blinked before slowly reaching for the silver knob. He turned it and cringed as the door creaked loudly in the dead-silent hallway. He quietly gasped as he pulled the door completely open and stepped inside.

The large room was… beautiful. The green plants and vines were everywhere, and the blue and purple flowers seemed to glow in the moonlight coming through the glass roof. Blank walked slowly into the rest of the room, admiring the way it all looked. The clear pool in the center seemed to glow, too, Blank saw, as the moonlight reflected off of it and the person sleeping at the edge.

Blank froze. There was someone sleeping here. He tried to back up quietly but he… stepped on a twig. 

A twig. There weren’t even any _fucking_ trees in here, and yet he stepped on a _twig_.

The person’s eyes snapped open at the sound of Blank stepping on that _stupid goddamn twig_.

Blank wasn’t entirely surprised by the person’s eyes being yellow and catlike. He had become accustomed to seeing strange and unusual features on people, but he knew none of the Cranks had yellow eyes. Unless there was a new ego, and he just didn’t know it? He figured that was the case, since he had never seen this room before.

Blank and the new ego had a staring contest for a bit, until the new ego… squeaked. Could they not speak English?

He really wished he’d brought his whiteboard, because he did _not_ feel like talking right now, but it turns out he wouldn’t have to speak after all. The person dove under the water, which Blank found strange, and pulled out a pink and blue board with a black marker.

Huh. It seems like Mad Mike already met this new Crank.

Blank walked slowly toward them as they chirped and motioned for him to come closer. They gave him a small smile as they turned the apparent ‘white’board around. It read, in a handwriting that was somehow worse than Blank’s, “HI bLANk.”

Blank froze again. How did this new ego know his name? Blank started shaking, about to bolt out of the room from fear, until the person quietly made some sort of purring noise and turned the ‘white’board back around. They quickly wrote a new message, so tightly fit onto the board Blank had some trouble reading it: “pLZ dONT be sCArd.”

They continued to make the purring noise as Blank read the message, and he felt oddly calmer. His flight or fight instincts kicked back in, though, once he realized what this person was doing to him. Whatever powers this person possessed, they were using them to draw Blank in, make him feel OK. He wasn’t about to let it work, as he shook his head and backed up a step.

The person’s face fell, as did the fins on their head. Wait… fins?!

Blank looked closer at them and realized he was right, the person had fins. And a fish tail. Were they a mermaid?

The person stopped purring and cleaned off their ‘white’board, gently placing it as far as they were able to in Blank’s direction. He guessed they wanted him to write back, maybe ask a question or two. He was still extremely wary of them as he slowly kneeled in front of the board. When he was done writing it read, in Blank’s small, rushed handwriting, “what r u? & how do u know me?”

Blank softly sat the ‘white’board down so the person could see it and take it back. They started purring again and this time Blank didn’t resist the calming sensation that came over him. He had decided while he was writing that this person—fish, mermaid, fucking whatever they were—didn’t mean him harm and, if they did, he would much rather die a peaceful death at the bottom of a lake then at the hands of one of the other Cranks.

They finished writing, and Blank read what was on the ‘white’board. “1. gONgOOZLer.”

That… really didn’t answer Blank’s first question. Was that their name? The person sensed his confusion and quickly wrote out a different answer. “1½. CrypTId.”

Ah, OK. That was very much something that Ethan Nestor would come up with. The person smiled at Blank and erased the word, replacing it with “2. bErNICe” as they continued purring.

It looks like Bernice and Mike discovered the Gongoozler together. They erased the board, dipping it in the water to completely clean it, and the two of them were left in awkward ‘silence.’

Blank listened to the soft purring of the Gongoozler as he let his eyes wander around the room. He really hadn’t expected to ever see something like this in the house, but it was here now. And it was amazing. Awe-inspiring. Magnificent. 

Dozens and dozens of other synonyms for “super fucking cool” came to Blank’s mind as he looked around the room more. He turned his attention back to the Gongoozler, though, as they made another chirping noise. They had written on the ‘white’board, “preTTy pLACe.”

Blank looked at them as they smiled and erased the board, and he gave them a very small smile back. They saw it and started squeaking excitedly, so much so that they had to clap a hand over their mouth to muffle their joy. Blank’s smile got a little bigger as he slightly raised an eyebrow and read what they had next wrote on the ‘white’board. “yOUr HAppy!!!!!”

Blank’s smile disappeared. The Gongoozler furrowed their eyebrows and frowned, and their face fins drooped again. Blank hesitantly gestured for the ‘white’board. He gripped the marker, and sat still for several seconds. He sat the board and marker back down and opted instead to speak. A few minutes passed after Blank sat the ‘white’board down until he finally spoke.

“...You know.”

The Gongoozler looked at Blank before taking the ‘white’board and quickly writing, “sOrry.”

“Why?”

Blank’s response was automatic, and he regretted it as soon as the question left his mouth. It was also extremely soft-spoken, and he hoped for a second that the creature didn’t hear him.

They did. “mAdE yOU sAd.”

Blank laughed quietly, though he didn’t find the explanation funny. He stared up at the sunroof as his black tears returned.

“...I’m always sad.”

Blank jolted and looked up at the Gongoozler when he felt something cold on his knee. They were further up on the shore now, and Blank realized that he really was the smallest ego as the creature practically towered over him. He was still crying as the Gongoozler made a small squeaking sound, almost as if they were asking for permission for something. Blank started shaking again as he shook his head. 

The Gongoozler gave Blank a sad look and took their hand off of Blank’s knee. Blank’s usual thoughts slipped back into his head, since he realized that the cryptid had stopped making that soothing noise. He looked down and away from them, frantically looking for any means of escape back to the ‘safety’ of his room. His breathing picked up and he started to curl into a ball, but the Gongoozler began to purr again. 

Blank eased out of the almost-panic attack as the Gongoozler kept purring. His inky tears dripped onto the ground and stayed there, already drying up in the dirt. Blank was calm, he was OK. He took a deep breath and looked back up at the Gongoozler. They were giving him a concerned look.

They squeaked again, seemingly ‘asking’ again to do whatever they wanted to do. Blank stared at them for a long time, before nodding his head cautiously.

The Gongoozler slowly, carefully, pulled Blank to their chest. They wrapped their arms around him and Blank felt safe. He felt safer than he had ever felt. The cryptid was cold, but Blank felt very, very warm as he gently hugged them back.

Suddenly the Gongoozler pushed Blank away and started chirping excitedly again. They reached for the ‘white’board and wrote, “ITs Ok TO be sAd.”

They erased it and continued with, “bUT yOULL be HAppy AFTer IT.”

Blank started to raise an eyebrow. What were they getting at?

The Gongoozler erased the ‘white’board again before writing, “LOOk!!” They chirped and pointed to a blue flower behind Blank, and he swiveled around to look at it.

The indigo rose was the closest one to the sunroof, and it was sagging slightly. Blank loved it, but he loved it even more after the moonlight moved and shone directly onto it. The rose slowly perked back up, and it almost sparkled in the glow. Blank figured out what the Gongoozler meant. He wasn’t one for words, but he knew a metaphor when he heard one. Or, saw one, in this case.

Blank turned back to the cryptid, and they had a ridiculously large grin on their face. Blank gave them another small smile and they hugged him again, chirping and squeaking as Blank silently laughed.

They slunk back into the water, and Blank figured he could stay and ‘talk’ to the Gongoozler for a bit longer. He still had to look for Mrs. Thomson, but staying with the cryptid for a few more minutes couldn’t hurt him.

~ ꕤꕤꕤꕤꕤ ~

Blank’s Gran reappeared the next morning, and found Blank and the Gongoozler slumped together by the edge of the new pond. She shook her head and closed the dark wood door, deciding to ask about the new ego later.

**Author's Note:**

> *heavy breathing* c o m f o r t t h e c h i l d skjfhgdfhldfj. At this point any fucking Crank fic that I write is going to have someone holding the small boy and honestly? I am not going to get tired of it kdjfhskh. I don't know what's wrong with me, but I like putting my characters through shit and then gently pushing them out of it.  
> As always, make sure to leave a comment if you liked this work, and don't be afraid to request another!


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